A New Model of Religious Conversion

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Acknowledgments

1. Conversions in Context: On the Interaction between the Personal and the Social

Goals and Argument of the Book

Religious Experience and Religious Conversion

Religious Experience

Religious Conversion

Outline of the Book

Methodology

2. Case Studies, the Key Concept and Converts’ Background Experiences

Selected Case Studies

Introducing the Inductive, Comparative Model: The Key Concept and Background Experiences

Shared Background Experiences

Problems with Fathers and/or Mothers

Short-Term Crises Prior to Conversion

Key Concept – Contrasting Background Experiences

The Experience of “Openness” or Disorganization (Category 1)

Religious Meaninglessness

Cultural, Social and/or Familial Disorganization

Problems in the Area of Relationships and Self

The Experience of Closed, Too Structured Backgrounds (Category 2)

Too Much Religious Structure

Too Much Cultural Structure

Feeling at Home in One’s Milieu of Origin (Category 3)

Attractions of Religious Groups in Light of Background Experiences

Conversions in Reaction to “Disorganization” (Category 1)

Converts to the Jehovah’s Witnesses: Religious Meaninglessness and Familial Disorganization

Converts to Islam and the Jehovah’s Witnesses: Cultural, Social and/or Familial Disorganization

Converts to Christianity: Problems in the Area of Relationships and Self

Conversions in Reaction to Closed, Too Structured Backgrounds (Category 2)

Unitarian Universalists, One Buddhist: Too Much Religious Structure

Converts to the Baha’i: Too Much Cultural Structure

Feeling at Home in One’s Milieu of Origin (Category 3)

Converts to Various Christian Denominations, to the Baha’i and to Islam: Feeling at Home in One’s Milieu of Origin

Conclusion

Comparison with Henri Gooren’s “Conversion Career Approach”

Making Sense of Background Patterns in Light of Theories of Social Change

3. Network Influence, Strong Social Constructivism and the Backgrounds of Conversion

Network Theory and Strong Social Constructivism: Explaining Why People Convert

The Failure of Network Theory and Strong Social Constructivism in Explaining Why People Convert

Why the Difference in Network Influence and Account Giving/Biographical Reconstruction?

The Overall Pattern

Cases for Which the Dominant Paradigms Fit

Cases for Which the Dominant Paradigms Do Not Fit

Summary of Associations

Mechanisms

4. Altering a (Problematic) Trajectory, Religious Content, and Conversion

Altering One’s (Problematic) Trajectory

Case Stories That Fit the Dominant Paradigms

The Role of Network Influence in Altering One’s (Problematic) Trajectory: Converts to the Jehovah’s Witnesses and to Islam

The Role of Network Influence, Positive Background Experiences, and Religious Emotions, Cognitions, and Beliefs: Adopting the Religion One Grew Up with

Case Stories That Do Not Fit the Dominant Paradigms

The Role of Religious Emotions, Cognitions, and Beliefs

The Role of Religious Emotions, Cognitions, and Beliefs: Converts to Islam and to Christianity

The Role of Increased Self-Reflexivity and Life Course Agency Due to Religious Emotions, Cognitions and Beliefs: Converts to Christianity

The Role of Contradictory Aims and the Inability of Religious Emotions, Cognitions, and Beliefs to Address Them: Converts to Christianity and the Baha’i

The Role of Existing Self-Reflexivity and Life Course Agency: Converts to the Baha’i and Unitarian Universalists

Conclusion

5. Gender and Conversion

Gender-Related Experiences and Conversion

Two Case Studies

Comparing the Case Stories

The Overall Picture

The Dominant Paradigms and Gendered Dimensions of Conversion

6. Conclusion

Implications for Research on Conversion

The “Multilevel Interdisciplinary Paradigm” and the “Conversion Career Approach”

On the Role of Religious Emotions, Cognitions, and Beliefs

On Gender

On Network Theory

On Strong and Weak Social Constructivism

Implications for Interfaith Dialogue

Why Biographical Sociology Matters

Appendix. Methodology

A Critical Realist Framework

The Narrative Interview

Schütze’s Theory of Narration

The Analysis of the Narrative Interview

Grounded Theory

Coding and Sampling Strategies in Grounded Theory Research

Religious Groups and Participants

Participants and Sampling

The Religious Groups

Christianity/Christian Groups

Jehovah’s Witnesses

Islam/Muslim Groups

Baha’i

Unitarian Universalism

Methodological Limitations

Bibliography

Index